Draft means



June 25, V w. VAN DER LuYs 2,205,505

DRAFT MEANS Filed April 2, 1937 2 6 v a & m ,R NA 0 MW wv .n 6 m A a m 3 m 1 w e m r 1 Wm H4 L N! l d w- I I 8 x H 7 @d :6 .T m L, [I .i H

[ aer- L ti J Patented June 25 1940 DRAFT MEANS William Van Der Sluys, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application April 2, 1937, Serial No. 134,509

9 Claims.

My invention relates to railway vehicle equip ment and it has particular relation to an improved type of draft means therefor.

My invention is particularly directed to thetyp of vehicle interconnecting means disclosed in application, Serial No. 118,814 filed January 2, 1937, by Carl Breer, in which aninterconnccting means located adjacent the ends of the vehicle body causes the forces transmitted thereby to have an effective center of application at any predetermined point within, the vehicle, even though that point be materially removed from the point of attachment of the interconnecting means to the vehicle.

16 The object of my invention consists in providing a novel type of vehicle interconnecting means of the character indicated in which the interconnecting means serves to cushion any forces transmitted thereby regardless of whether such 20 forces are compressive or tension in nature and likewise translates any and all forces of any nature into tensional forces permitting their absorption by means of a single set of tension springs;

25 For a better understanding of my invention reference may now be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan illustrating the adjacent ends of two railway vehicles connected together by 30 draft means, constructed in accordance with my invention, portions of the vehicle bodies being omitted for-the sake of clarity.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, the view being taken along 5 line II--II thereof.

Fig. 3 is a view, partially in elevation and partially in section. of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, the,..view being taken-v along line Ill-Hf thereof.

o In the structure illustrated I have shown diagrammatically two car bodies Ill and II which are connected together by draft means embodying my invention. As the portions associated with each car are identical only one of them will 5 be described, in the interests of brevity.

In the drawings I have shown a car floor l2 upon which is" mounted a laterally disposed supporting structure l3 consisting of an arcuate guide member l4 having a front portion and 50 a rear portion l6 having opposed arcuate faces.

The end portions I! of the member ll are secured to the' under side of the floor l2 ofthe car by means of bolts I, or other suitable fastening means. A supporting rail l9 which is arcuate u in contour and which is drawn about the same two laterally extending arms 31.

center as the front and rear portions l5 and it of the guide member M, is secured to the end portions ll of the supporting structure l3 by means of the bolts I9 or other suitable securing means.

Movably mounted between the arcuate faces of 5 the inner and outer arcuate members 15 and I6 is a carriage provided at both ends with journa-l pins 2| on which are mounted rollers 22, the rollers being adapted to engage the faces of the arcuate members 15 and I6 and being slightly 10 smaller in diameter than the distance between the two faces so that the carrier may roll on either of the two faces without frictionally engaging the other. The carriage 20 is provided at each end with an arm 23 which is provided, at 15 an intermediate portion 24, with a rotatively mounted roller 25 adapted to roll on the supporting rail l9 thus maintaining the structure supported thereby in a substantially horizontal position. secured two parallel links .26 which are pivotally 7 connected to an additional link 21 by means of a pivot pin 28, thus forming series connected links.

Slidably supported in the central portion of 25 the carriage member 20 is a guiding rod 30, as best shown in Fig. 2, having a horizontal portion 3|, which passes through an opening of corresponding shape in the carriage member 2|], and is provided at its outer end with a head or enlarged 3o portion 32 which prevents it being drawn through an opening in the carriage member 20. An intermediate portion 33 of the rod extends upwardly and an end portion 34 extends, horizontally and has supported on its outer end a struc- 5 ture 35 consisting of a coupling member 36 and t The rod 30 therebyserves to maintain the coupling member 36 and the carriage member 20 centrally disposed with respect to each other, although they may 0 be moved towards or away from each other as will later be described. The coupling member in question is of the type which forms a rigid connection between the two portions of the coupler, being connected together so that no bending or relative motion of one of the parts thereof can occur with respect to the other. Slidably mounted on the portion 34 of the rod 33 is a centralsupport member'38. which is provided at each end with an opening 39. The rod33 thus serves 5 as a guide for the member 38. A tension spring 40 is secured. at one end in one of the openings 39 and at the other end in an opening ll provided in the end of the link 21. In like manner, a second tension spring 40 is secured at one end in At the end of each arm 23 are pivotally go.

the othen opening 39 in the member 38 and at the other end in an opening 4| in the link 21 which is connected as previously described to the other arm 23, thus forming a balanced arrangement of links and springs which are disposed in alignment when the mechanism is in its unloaded position. Each of the arms 31 is provided with a pivotally mounted link 42 the other end of which is pivotally secured to the pin 28 constituting the connection between links 26 and 21 mounted on the arms 23.

It will be understood that the supporting structure l3, which is secured to the floor l2 of the car, extends generally transversely thereof so that movement of the carriage 2.0 within the guide It will generally be laterally of the vehicle. The arcs represented by carriage contacting faces of the arcuate guide members l5 and I6 and also of the supporting rail I. may be drawn about any desired point within the vehicle. It being my preference that they shall all be drawn about a point representing the center of oscillation of the adjacent truck supporting the vehicle but any predetermined point may be employed.

The rod 33 and the rollers cooperate to maintain the coupler 36 and associated linkage mechanism in a position immediately beneath the level of the floor l2 of the car, which, being uniform in all cars, causes the couplers to engage automatically when adjacent cars are brought together. As the carriage 20 is free to move on the arcuate face of the member l5 when the coupling member is under tension, or on the arcuate face of the member l6 when the draft mechanism is under compression, it will be apparent that this device will move laterally of the car in accordance with the direction of the forces exerted thereon so that when one car is being pulled by the other the carriage 20 will move on the arcuate face of the guide IE to a. position centrally disposed with .respect to a line drawn from the axis of the. arc of the member of one car to the axis of a corresponding arc of the next adjacent car to which it is connected, and that all forces transmitted therebetween will, in effect, be transmitted between the centers of those arcs regardless of the relative positions of the ends of the cars on which the coupling, mechanism is mounted.

When the draft mechanism is placed under tension, a tensional force isexerted on the coupling member 35 which is transmitted to the arms 31 and through links 42 to the pin 28. This draws the pin 28 in a direction away from the carriage 20 thus placing the springs 40 under tension and serving to cushion any sudden jerks impressed thereon. The forces are transmitted by means of the links 21 to the springs 40 and by means of the links 26 to the arms 23 of the carriage member 20, and from the carriage member 20 through the rollers 22 to the outer arcuate member l 5 of the guide ll, from which it is transmitted to the floor of the car body. In like manner, a compressive force is transmitted to the coupling member 36 and the arms 31 through the links 42 to the pins28. This causes a tendency to move the pins 28 towards the main portion of the car body and through the links 21 exerts tension on the springs 40, thus serving tocushion'any impact or sudden compressive force exerted thereon. The compressiveforce is transmitted bymeans of the links 26 to the arms 23 and thence to the carriage 20, and from the carriage 20 through the rollers 22 to the inner arcuate member iii of the arcuate guide I4, and thus to the floor I 2 of the car body.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that all forces exerted through the coupling mechanism by one .car on another will be translated into tension forces on the links 21 and may be properly cushioned and resisted by means of tension springs 40, thus permitting the use of a relatively simple mechanism with but a single type of spring which may be made uniform for all cars of approximately the same weight, and may be readily changed for cars of materially different weights, so as to permit of the proper shock absorbing or cushioning action to guard against the imposition of violent forces of any nature by one car on to another car.

Although I have illustrated but a single form of my invention and have described in detail but a single application thereof it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but that various modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Railway draft mechanism comprising means 7 adapted to be secured to railway rolling stock in pivoting relationship to a fixed center of oscillation thereof, coupling means adapted to be attached at times to an adjacent car, and additional .means interconnecting said coupling means and adapted to be secured-to railway rolling stock coupling, a member mounted on railway rolling.

equipment so as to move in an arcuate path about a fixed point withinsaid equipment as a center,

and a shock absorber interconnecting said coupling and said member comprising pivotally connectd links and springs operably associated with said links, said springs being arranged to receive tensional forces only.

4. Railway draft mecahnism comprising a coupling, a member mounted on railway rolling equipment so as to move in an arcuate path about a fixed point within said equipment as a center,

and a shock absorber interconnecting said 'coupling and said member comprising tension springs and pivotally connected linkage mechanism connected to'said tension springs and arranged to transmit either tension or compressive forces exerted thereon to said springs as tension forces.

5. Draft mechanism comprising an arcuate guide member adapted to be secured to rolling stock, a carriage member'movably mounted on said arcuate guide member, a coupling member,

a guiding member adapted to maintain said coupling member in centrally disposed relationship with respect to said carriage member, 'and a shock cushioning member interconnecting said coupling member and said carriage member said shock cushioning member comprising a plurality of pivotally interconnected links and springs cooperably associated with said links and actin under tension.

6. Draft mechanism comprising an arcuate guide member secured to rolling stock, a carriage member movably mounted on said arcuate guide member, a coupling member, spaced arms mounted on said carriage member, link members pivotally connected to each of said arms, an additional link pivotally connected to each of said first named links, springs interconnecting said additional links, and means interconnecting the juncture of said first and second links and said coupling member.

7., Draft mechanism comprising an arcuate guide member adapted to be secured to rolling stock, a carriage member movably mounted on said arcuate guide member, a coupling member, a guiding member adaptedto maintain said coupling member in centrally disposed relationship with respect to said carriage member, spaced arms mounted on said carriage member, two

pivoted series connected links pivotally connected to each ofsaid arms, a slidable member mounted on said guiding member, tension springs interconnecting said slidable member and the last link oi?v each of the series of links, and a member secured to the juncture points of the two sets of links and to the coupling member.

8. Draft mecahnism comprising an arcuate guide member adapted to be secured to rolling stock, a carriage member movably mounted on said arcuate guide member, a coupling member, a guiding member adapted to maintain said coupling member in centrally disposed relationship with respect to said carriage member, spaced arms mounted on said carriage member, two pivoted series connected links pivotally connected to each of said arms, a slidable member mounted on said guiding member, tension springs interconnecting said slidabie member and the last link of each of the series of links, arms mounted on said coupling member and movable therewith, and links pivotally interconnecting the coupling member arms with the central pivotal connection of the two sets of series connected links.

9. Railway draft mechanism comprising means adapted to be secured to railway rolling stock in pivoting relationship to a fixed center of oscillation thereof, coupling means adapted to be attached at times to an adjacent car, and additional means interconnecting said coupling means and said first named means for cushioning any impact transmitted therebetween, said additional means comprising pivotally connected linkage mechanism and a single set of springs operably associated with said linkage mechanism and so constructed and arranged that each of said springs is deformed in the same direction from its position occupied prior to impact-transmitting operation of said coupling means whenever either tension or compression force is exerted between said coupling means and the adjacent car.

WILHAM VAN DER. 'SLU'YS. 

